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15 Of Toni Morrison's Most Beautiful Quotes

"Thin love ain't love at all."

Celah Convis

Aug 06, 2019

Eastern Michigan University

228

15 Of Toni Morrison's Most Beautiful Quotes

https://www.instagram.com/p/B01XnDEFTby/

Yesterday, Toni Morrison, one of the greatest American novelists of all time, died. For countless readers, Morrison's words have moved, inspired, and challenged us. Here are 15 of Morrison's most beautiful quotes from her books, although her beautiful words are certainly more numerous to count.

1. From Song of Solomon:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B01XiX6lqQt/

"You want to fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down."

2. From Beloved:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B01XdlTB-i0/

"Freeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another."

3. From The Bluest Eye:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B01XgPolLFV/

"Love is never any better than the lover. Wicked people love wickedly, violent people love violently, weak people love weakly, stupid people love stupidly, but the love of a free man is never safe. There is no gift for the beloved. The lover alone possesses his gift of love. The loved one is shorn, neutralized, frozen in the glare of the lover's inward eye."

4. From Beloved:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B01XUkOAfpW/

"Love is or it ain't. Thin love ain't love at all."

5. From Sula:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B01XU_FFKPh/

"Lonely, ain't it?
Yes, but my lonely is mine. Now your lonely is somebody else's. Made by somebody else and handed to you. Ain't that something? A secondhand lonely."

6. From Jazz:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B004pr-BZaR/

"But the picking out, the choosing. Don't ever think I fell for you, or fell over you. I didn't fall in love, I rose in it. I saw you and made up my mind. My mind."

7. From Sula:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B003uPQHIqg/

"Like any artist without an art form, she became dangerous."

8. From Beloved:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B01XJoOhcFX/

"There is a loneliness that can be rocked. Arms crossed, knees drawn up, holding, holding on, this motion, unlike a ship's, smooths and contains the rocker. It's an inside kind--wrapped tight like skin. Then there is the loneliness that roams. No rocking can hold it down. It is alive. On its own. A dry and spreading thing that makes the sound of one's own feet going seem to come from a far-off place."

9. From Song of Solomon:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B01Xm7olhtO/

"If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it."

10. From Sula:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B01UbYJgmtB/

"It is sheer good fortune to miss somebody long before they leave you."

11. From Jazz:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B01Xcl5gE3T/

"Pain. I seem to have an affection, a kind of sweettooth for it. Bolts of lightning, little rivulets of thunder.
And I the eye of the storm."

12. From Beloved:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B01XPCAh_8Z/

"He wants to put his story next to hers."

13. From The Bluest Eye:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B01WqF8Dwc3/

"Beauty was not simply something to behold; it was something one could do."

14: From A Mercy:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B01Wt6YB8RH/

"I dream a dream that dreams back at me"

15. From God Help the Child:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B01XgGLFunr/

"You don't have to love me but you damn well have to respect me."

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.

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Recommended for you

15 Of Toni Morrison's Most Beautiful Quotes

"Thin love ain't love at all."

1. From Song of Solomon:

2. From Beloved:

3. From The Bluest Eye:

4. From Beloved:

5. From Sula:

6. From Jazz:

7. From Sula:

8. From Beloved:

9. From Song of Solomon:

10. From Sula:

11. From Jazz:

12. From Beloved:

13. From The Bluest Eye:

14: From A Mercy:

15. From God Help the Child:

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10 ways to prepare for finals week—beginning with getting to the library.

Who knows where we would be without them.

1. Thank you for laughing at my jokes, even when they really aren’t funny.

2. Thank you for singing unbearably loud with me all the time.

3. Thank you for letting me vent to you for hours about anything and basically being my personal therapist.

4. Thank you for ordering pizza with me at 2 in the morning.

5. Thank you for all the movie days when we don’t feel like moving.

6. Thank you for being my workout buddy everyday.

7. Thank you for sharing your closets with me.

8. Thank you for taking naps with me at random hours during the day.

9. Thank you for cleaning our home with me when we absolutely need to.

10. Thank you for all the rides when it’s late and you don’t want me to walk home alone in the dark.

11. Thank you for studying with me in our kitchen when we didn't want to go the library.

12. Thank you for making dinner with me.

13. Thank you for helping with my hair, makeup and outfit every time we go out.

14. Thank you for taking countless ugly pictures with me.

15. Thank you for not judging me when I go too long without showering.

16. Thank you for making our apartment feel like a second home.

17. Thank you for being there through all of our boy troubles.

18. Thank you for giving me a hug when I feel homesick.

19. Thank you for getting excited with me when one of us gets a good grade on an exam.

20. Thank you for still being my friend and not judging me when I say or do dumb things.

21. Thank you for telling me what I should do when I am sick.

22. Thank you for dancing horribly with me everywhere we go.

23. Thank you for staying up super late with me when we aren’t tired or can’t sleep.

24. Thank you for being super weird with me.

25. Thank you for all the unforgettable college memories.

26. And most of all, thank you for being the best friends a girl could have.

I may or may not be stressing right now.

1. "What do I have to study for?"

2. "What class do I need to study for the most?"

3. "I’m going to ace this."

4. "Focus!"

5."I have no idea what I'm reading."

6. "I should call my smart friend about this."

7. "I’m going to fail. I’m going to fail."

8. "I’m dropping out of school."

9. "What grade do I have to get on the final to pass the class?"

10. "Oh, no, I have to do good."

11. "I shouldn’t have procrastinated all semester."

12. "I wanna go to bed."

13. "We did not learn this!"

14. "I should go get food."

15. "Why do we even have finals?"

16. "I don’t want to be at the library."

17. "Get off your phone."

18. "I can watch Netflix for like 20 minutes and then go back to studying."

19. "I shouldn’t have watched Netflix."

20. "You have to study now!"

The "Happiest Place on Earth" has a lot of characters with some pretty great advice.

Remember you’re the one who can fill the world with sunshine. — Snow White

The past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it or learn from it. — Rafiki

You don't have time to be timid. You must be bold and daring. — Lumière

If watching is all you're gonna do, then you're gonna watch your life go by without ya. — Laverne

Sometimes the right path is not the easiest one. — Grandmother Willow

Always let your conscience be your guide. — Jiminy Cricket

To infinity and beyond. — Buzz Lightyear

Life is a journey to be experienced, not a problem to be solved. — Pooh

Let it go. — Elsa

If you can't say something nice, don't say nothin' at all. — Thumper

Today's special moments are tomorrow's memories. — Genie

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